Cinzia's Italian Made Easy

Matera, Basilicata

Home
Italy Travel Links
Matera
Tours to Italia
Meet Your Teacher
Assignments
Class Reviews
Tips and Hints
Class Bulletin Board
Class Photo Album
More Photos
In Depth...
Italian Pot-Lucks!
Special Events
Musica
Misc.
Google Link
Language Links
Word A Day
Podcasts
Blogs Learning Italian
Videos
Piazza San Marco - 2 pm & 2 am
Price List
Friends

canvasprint-wallpaper1.jpg

Matera - la mia città in Basilicata!

 Matera is the only place in the world where people can boast to be still living in the same houses of their ancestors of 9,000 years ago.

Discovering the Ruins of Italys Ionian Coast By Helene Stapinski March 6, 2015

imgp1684.jpg

Matera, Italy From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sassi di Matera, Wikipedia

materafrenitjpg.jpg

sent-civita.jpg

imgp1576-cezanne-luigi.jpg

Matera is one of the most ancient towns in the world because of the continual presence of mankind documented from the beginning of the IV millennium B.C. (Neolitico 3900-2900 B.C.) to the present. From the many belle piazze di Matera one can see the extraordinary panorama of the Sassi and of a high plateau, referred to as the Murgia, this latter situated beyond a gaping ravine. 90% of the terrain is mountainous and hilly and made of calcareous rock.

Houses fold into each other and the roof of one becomes the floor of another or a neighborhood sidewalk. Benedictine monks came here starting in the 600 A.D. to seek refuge from religious persecution. Today throughout Matera and its countryside there are more than 130 rock-hewn churches, many containing well-preserved fresco paintings. After the monks abandoned their cavernous homes, the peasant, the indiginous people of the countryside occupied the caves until the early '50s when the prime minister of Italy at the time, DeGasperi, moved all 20,000 of them into brand new apartment buildings (designed by top Italian architects). The Sassi, for the most part, remained abandoned until the early '90s when UNESCO took an interest and claimed them a World Heritage Site. Today the Sassi are 40% occupied. Several laws passed since 1986 to help underwrite the restoration process.
 

Matera è una città di 57.000 abitanti (circa 20.000 abitano al centro storico e nella zona dei Sassi). Si trova a 480 km da Roma e 270km da Napoli, soltanto 100km da Potenza e 65km da Bari (in Puglia). Se volete arrivare qui sarà molto più facile prendere l'aereo da Roma per Bari e poi c'è il treno privato (chiamato F.A.L.) che arriva direttamente a Matera.

Matera Renaissance New Life in Italian Ancient Cave City Aug 2017

Matera A City Rediscovered from Travel Ideas Italian Tourism Site

The miracle of Matera from city of poverty and squalor to hip hub for cave-dwellers Jun 17 2017

The third-oldest continually inhabited settlement in the world Feb 13 2017

The real-life Flintstones village DailyMail Apr 19 2016

Italian Notebook - Two articles on Matera.

Five Reasons to Visit Basilicata Jan 15, 2016 Italy Magazine

A Cave with a View BY D. T. MAX APRIL 27, 2015 Matera, once seen as uncivilized, is now prized for its ancient ways.

Discovering the Ruins of Italy Ionian Coast By HELENE STAPINSKI MARCH 6, 2015

Matera A Beautiful and Fascinating Cave Town October 2014 By Eleonora Sepe

Southern Italy's Matera will rock your world March 2014 TORONTO SUN

Basilicata, Rock Hard And Still Untamed...New York Times

Cave Chronicles from Southern Italy

The NY Times just loves MATERA! 4th article: Luxury Transforms Caves Into Hotels

Rock legend - Matera's cave dwellings lay abandoned for decades, but an extraordinary new project evokes the story of the buildings and the lives lived in them to spectacular effect.

Italy From the Inside - The Sassi of Matera

Civita' e Cattedrale
civita_cattedrale-detail.jpg

case ancora da ristrutturare
2berestructured.jpg

le grotte
caves.jpg

Matera & Puglia - 2 articles from the Washington Post!

Back to Basilicata FROM MAY 2006 of Travel and Leisure Magazine

Matera, the city of the Stones, sassiweb.it (written in both inglese e italiano!)

Italian cave city goes hi-tech, Jan 2006 BBC News, Matera, Italy

Bed & Breakfast in Matera

The Hotel Locanda di San Martino lies in the heart of Materas Sassi Historical District and just a few steps to the city center, with balconies that enjoy sun and wonderful views. Guests will be able to experience staying in cave-dwellings of the very same type as those which have been inhabited here for thousands of years; these, however, have been adapted to the comforts of modern living.

SASSIWEB - the official website for Matera since 1998. In English and Italian.

YouTube BASILICATA COAST TO COAST Trailer of film

Sandra Langston - an American artist & friend of mine living in Basilicata since 1982!

womens_fiction_fest_logo.jpg

WOMEN'S FICTION FESTIVAL held every year in Matera!

io e mia cognata, Jennifer!
orange_coat.jpg
March 2006

Il pranzo della domenica in campagna!
salsicce.jpg
March 2006

Link to see more photos of Matera e altri viaggi in Italia!

Sud Italia - una mappa della zona
matera-mappasuditalia.jpg

I Sassi di Matera non sono per tutti.

Nonostante che sia sempre stata un po' difficile raggiungerla, Matera è una città che vale la pena di vedere.

Per fare una vera esperienza dei Sassi di Matera, tocca scendere a piedi seguendo le scale (i gradini). Questo continuo sale e scendi delle strade non fa per tutti.

I Sassi, per se, sono per i veri viaggiatori e non il turista. Sono per quelli che magari hanno sempre voluto viaggiare il Tibet o il Nepal. Proseguendo per le stradine e i gradini nei Sassi ci fa ricordare di certi posti del lontano Oriente.

Per qualsiasi persona che non sia capace di salire e scendere quanto il terreno richiede, niente vi impedisce di soggiornare nel Centro di Matera, la parte più in alto, la parte più nuova, la città settecentesca. Bello e buono, da li' vi meravigliate delle vedute panoramiche che mette in mostra tutta l'ambiente dei Sassi, un conglomerato di case costriute in una maniera insolito. Di sera pare un presepe gigantesco. Di giorno somiglia a un paese del Medio Oriente.

Un panorama da stupire. Un paese da amare.

next page - Tours to Italia

*´¨)
¸.•´¸.•*´¨) ¸.•*¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•´Cinzia Sanniti Waldrop *´¨)
Office: Cherry Creek East Location
Plenty of Free Parking!
Tel. (new #): 
720 288 6531
Email: c.sanniti@gmail.com
Website: http://sanniti.tripod.com

Home